Signs of Spring

Phallic signs of spring have awakened from the fertile ditches that are now three years in the making.  Who knew how fast they would grow?  One morning, just purple swollen tips protrude, but hours later, they have reached mid-shin.  This is the year to eat!

Three summers ago, just 6 short months after purchasing this little slice of country living, we decided on asparagus as a house-warming gift to ourselves.  We are not patient.  We have waited, whined, weeded, and wondered when we would finally harvest.  (whew, that's alot of w's!)  All the gardening wisdom uncovered said WAIT.  Wait 3 years.  Then harvest. So, we did.  And guess what?  This year, yes this 3rd year, I find out we didn't need to wait.  Turns out,  you can even increase your yield by picking sooner.  Arrgghh.  But, we are stronger people now, I tell myself.

So far, we have tried steamed, roasted, sauteed, and dipped.  But, the winner has been the soup.  Cream of asparagus soup sounds icky.  I imagine threads of slimy overcooked stalks winding through the gaps between my teeth as I wince through a slurp.  Not so.  An alchemy that is unexpected but subtle and nice. Kind of cream of broccoli-ish, but only better.  You'd almost think someone had snuck a hunk of nicely aged cheese into the soup.  Don't let the name fool you.  Oh, and you've got to hand it to the King of Kitchen soup-making, the immersion blender.  I'm not sure how one does without this little magic stick.  I was looking for the simplest set of ingredients, and found this recipe to be spot on.

Already the patch is showing signs of slimming down.  Lets hope we can eek out another batch of this, before letting those overachieving little tips leaf out.  It is said that they must be left to fern out once the diameter gets too skinny, so they can spend the summer stashing the sun's energy for next year's harvest.  I'll never look at grocery store asparagus the same way again!